Angola

Angola

The Republic of Angola covers 1,247,000 km² in the western region of Southern Africa. It is the second largest country south of the Sahara after the Democratic Republic of Congo. The countrycontains six major geomorphologic areas: Coastal area, marginal mountain chains, the old tableland, Zaire basin and the basins of the Zambezi and Cubango. Angola has two seasons, the rainy and dry (cacimbo) seasons, with an average annual rainfall of 400 mm and lowest and highest average temperatures at 18˚C and 35 ˚C respectively.

Angola’s population is estimated at 17,992,000 (latest census). The official language is Portuguese, with approximately 100 different ethnic languages spoken, of which Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kikongo, Tchokwe and Ovambo are the dominant national languages. Luanda is the capital city; other main towns, all offering varied potential for investors looking for new business opportunities include: Cabinda, Benguela, Huambo, Lobito, Lubango and Namibe. Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975. Following this, a civil war engulfed the country, with a government of national unity being installed in 1997. The president is the Head of State.

The oil industry is presently the backbone of the economy. Oil and fishing are the main sectors that have attracted foreign investment in recent years. The upstream oil industry is the country’s major source of foreign exchange, and oil production and its supporting activities contribute about half of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 90% of exports. Angola’s economy has been devastated by decades of civil war, which negatively impacted sectors such as the agriculture, iron mining and diamonds.

Although the development of the tourism sector has not yet begun in earnest,Angola has significant tourism potential, with tropical climate, beaches, mountains, wildlife and many cultural attractions. Once such example is Kissama National Park, located about 75 km from Luanda, which includes a wide variety of wildlife.